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2014 will be defining season of Mark Ingram's New Orleans Saints career | Jeff Duncan

Mark Ingram: Saints OTA's on Thursday

Mark Ingram is the third Heisman Trophy-winning back to play for the Saints in the past 15 years, following Ricky Williams and Reggie Bush. (Michael DeMocker, Nola.com / The Times-Picayune)
(Michael DeMocker)

One of Sean Payton's core beliefs is that a player's draft status, contract or pedigree should never factor into the New Orleans Saints' evaluation process of him.

He famously tells his team each spring, "It doesn't matter how you got here. Once you're here, you're going to be evaluated fairly regardless of your background."

NFL coaches have to think that way. But fans certainly don't. Nor does the media.

The reality is some players arrive in the NFL with vastly different expectations.

The Saints backfield is a prime example. Of the six running backs on the roster, only Mark Ingram was drafted. The other five runners all arrived as college free agents.

When Pierre Thomas, Travaris Cadet and Khiry Robinson came to New Orleans nobody knew their names or their games. Heck, it took half a season for folks to learn to pronounce the first names of Cadet and Robinson correctly.

Conversely, no one was asking Who Dat? when Ingram's name was called in 2011. He wasn't just drafted. Ingram was a Heisman Trophy winner, a star on Alabama's 2009 national championship team, the consensus No. 1-rated running back in the 2010 draft.

He was a guy the Saints liked so much they sent a future first-round pick to New England in order to nab him with the No. 28 overall pick.

He arrived just months after the Saints were upset in the NFC playoffs by Seattle, in part, because their backfield was so decimated by injuries they were forced to use Heath Evans at tailback.

By the time Ingram landed in town four years ago he needed an extra suitcase to carry all of the expectations from hopeful Saints fans.

Since then, Ingram's career has mirrored those of his Heisman Trophy predecessors in New Orleans: Ricky Wiliams and Reggie Bush.

Ingram's moments of inspired play and flashes of greatness have been tempered by quiet stretches of mediocrity. Like Williams and Bush, injuries have hindered his productivity. Like Bush, he's been forced to share the backfield and touches with a band of talented teammates.

Consequently, the 1,462 yards and 11 touchdowns Ingram has gained in his first three NFL seasons combined aren't as many as what he accrued during his Heisman Trophy season alone.

He hasn't been a bust. But he hasn't been a boom, either.

Here's what he also hasn't been: a fumbler; a malcontent; or a bad teammate.

In fact, the Saints believed in Ingram enough to trade Chris Ivory and Darren Sproles the past two seasons, so there's obviously something there they like.

"I think there is a perception outside this building that is sometimes unfair, because he's a first-round selection, he's a Heisman Trophy winner and thus, we put him in a category because the expectations are (high)," Saints running backs coach Dan Rousher said. "Mark is a team guy. That's all he has ever been about. Like all the other guys, I'm sure that he would like his 300 carries a year and to rush for 1,600 yards. But does that translate to wins? It's not our formula right now."

Yet, because of his background, his Heisman pedigree and draft circumstances, Ingram has received the bulk of the blame for the Saints' sporadic rushing attack. He's been booed at the Superdome, as if he held a gun to the Saints head and forced them to trade up for him.

At the Saints minicamp practice on Wednesday, Ingram insisted that the criticism he's endured in his Saints career doesn't bother him. He says the only opinions that matter to him are the ones inside the Saints facility. But he's also human, and at times, especially early in his career, Saints head coach Sean Payton said he could sense Ingram was pressing during games or practices.

"The thing with Mark, he has been in a program that is very similar to the attention that we get and the fanfare, the criticism and the compliments when you are doing well," Payton said. "He understands that and if you are not careful how it can affect your play.

"To his credit, a year ago, he did a good job tuning out some of the noise and then when the opportunities came when he got healthy you saw him play a lot better."

Ingram looked like a different back in the second half of the season. For the first time as a Saint, he looked like the guy nobody could tackle in Tuscaloosa.

He registered the first 100-yard game of his career in Week 10 against Dallas. He gained 83 tough-mudder yards on the road against Carolina's top-ranked defense. And his 97 yards were critical in the Saints' first road playoff win at Philadelphia.

His 4.9-yard average per carry in 2013 led the team and was a career high.

Now he enters a make-or-break season.

The Saints' elected to not pick up the option on the fifth year of his contract, meaning Ingram will become an unrestricted free agent after this season. And that's OK. There's nothing wrong with a little healthy incentive. It could work out well for both parties. Ingram wouldn't be the first player to produce his best season with a contract on the line.

His coaches have noted his increased focus in film study and an amped intensity in practice. His teammates say he's dialed in.

"Every single year I've become a better player and a better person," Ingram said. "People's expectations. that's their opinions. What goes on this this locker room, my coaches and teammates, they know I work my butt off. I go to war every single Sunday. At the end of the day, that's all that matters to me."

Ingram is smart. He knows what's on the line. The Saints have Robinson and Cadet waiting in the wings. Both are talented. Perhaps more important, both are cheap.

If things go well, the Saints could re-sign Ingram to a long-term deal. If not, he'll move along, just as Williams and Bush did before him.

One way or the other, the 2014 season will largely define his career in New Orleans.

"It was a blessing to win the Heisman (but) that's in the past," Ingram said. "I'm trying to focus on my NFL career and be the best I can be in the NFL. Just because you win the Heisman doesn't mean you're going to be a great NFL player."

Ingram's best likely will never be good enough for some. And that's unfair.

Think of it this way: How would his career be judged if he were a fifth-round draft pick? What if he'd played at Alabama State instead of Alabama? Or if, instead of first, he'd finished third in the Heisman Trophy race, as Drew Brees did in 2000?

How would you look at Ingram then?

As we all know, the Who Dat Nation loves nothing more than to anoint saviors. From Archie to Ricky to Reggie, others have borne the burden before him.